GB2229489A

GB2229489A - Suspension mounting arrangement for exterior loads of aircraft

Info

Publication number: GB2229489A
Application number: GB9003898A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Carsten Schulze
Original assignee: Messerschmitt Bolkow Blohm AG
Current assignee: Airbus Defence and Space GmbH
Priority date: 1989-02-22
Filing date: 1990-02-21
Publication date: 1990-09-26
Anticipated expiration: 2010-02-21
Also published as: IT9019430A0; GB9003898D0; FR2643332B1; IT9019430A1; IT1239080B; DE3905396A1; DE3905396C2; GB2229489B; FR2643332A1

Description

LB140290 - 1 SUSPENSION MOUNTING ARRANGEMENT FOR EXTERIOR LOADS OF

AIRCRAFT This invention relates to a suspension mounting arrangement for external loads of aircraft comprising a suspension pin (spigot) which is installed in the aircraft frame or wings and may be rigidly fixed thereto or explosively releasable, and which is coupled with a load-carrier.

Such suspension mounting arrangements are known in manv varied forms of construction, for example from DEPS 27 39 299 of the applicants.

DE-OS 35 13 829 discloses a device for directional alignment of a load carrier with respect to the carrier aircraft, which device is on the one hand constructed to be adaptable to the particularities of the wing by way of a cylindrical mounting protrusion at the wing as a vertical rotational axis, and on the other hand is constructed to be displaceable in the transverse direction by means of a pin hole in the wing for the insertion of a height-adjustable pin which is rigidly connected with the load carrier.

All these known devices are designed either for LB140290 - 2 specific loads (or dispensers) or for specific types of aircraf-lt.

It is the aim of the present invention to provide a suspension mounting arrangement of the type mentioned in the first paragraph hereto which is standardised such that it is usable with all types of load carriers or tanks, thus also allowing standardisation of load carriers which can be borne not only on the internal station and on the external stations of the wing, but also on the air frame, and such that fitting of the suspension arrangement from underneath leaves the top structure - for example the wing frame structure untouch.ed.

This object is achieved in accordance with the invenzion in that the suspension pin, an aircraft structural member with a conical mount, and a loadcarrier block are assembled to form a unitary assembly module which is insertable into or attachable to the frame or load, the suspension pin, on the load-side, restLna in a spherical mount in the load-carrier block, thereby being pivotally adjustable about a transverse axis, and being axially clamped and fixed in the loadcarrier block by means of a coupling nut, and, on the frame-side, being clamped and fixed by lacking means engaging in recesses in the conical mount of the structural member, as well as by a divisible conical LB140290 - 3 sleeve, which is axially adjustable and which is insertable into the structural member by means of a conical mounting bush, engaging a clamping sleeve.

Some specific embodiments are explained in the following description and outlined in the figures of the drawings, in which:

Flig. 1 is a perspective view of part of a first embodiment of a suspension arrangement in accordance with the invention, the arrangement being shown here without the appertaining structural part of the aircraft; Fia. 2 is a perspective partial cross-section through the embodiment according to Fig. 1 with the structural part of the aircraft now shown; Fig. 2a is a perspective view of a modified embodiment of a suspension pin with conical sleeve, clamping sleeve, manual unlocking device, as well as a coupling nut suitable for a wormdrive and a spherical mount; Fig. 3a is an exploded, partly sectional view of the aircraft elements, namely structural part, conical mount, lower conical mounting bush and coupling nut; Fig. 3b is a partially sectioned view of the assembled elements according to Fig. 3a; Fig. 4 is a partially cross-sectional view of a further embodiment of the suspension arrangement of the invention with a coupling nut for axial pretensioning LB140290 - 4 above and underneath the clamping sleeve; Fig. 5 is a partially cross-sectional view of a third embodiment of the suspension arrangement of the invention with structural members fitted to the inner or outer wing station; Fig. 6 is a partially cross-sectional view of a fourth embodiment with extended suspension pin (spigot); Fig. 7a is a schematic view illustrating a so-called inner suspension mount station where the load-carrier block is fitted into a pylon; Fig. 7b is a schematic view illustrating a so-called middle station where the load-carrier block is inserted into a pylon of a tank; and Fia. 7c is a schematic view illustrating.a so-called outer station whereby the load-carrier block is inserted into a pylon of a load to be released.

As is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a first embodiment of a standardised suspension mounting arrangement in accordance with the invention comprises a suspension pin 1, also called a spigot, an aircraft structural member 7, a conical mount 8 and a load-carrier structural member 10. The aforementioned components, which are connected with each other and separable, are provided as a readv to install assembly module. The aircaft structural member 7 is arranged on or in the air frame or the wings and fixed in position. It is provided with a conical mount 8 to accommodate the suspension pin c LB140290 - 5 1, which mount has recesses 8a an its inner surface into which engage rollers, lugs, fingers or similar elements serving as locking means 2 for the suspension pin 1 to lock same into the aircraft structural member 7. The conical mount 8 accepts all forces in the X-, Y- and Zdirections. The rollers or lugs 2 accepts the Zdirection forces for transfer onto the structure. As can be seen in Figs. 1 and 2, the suspension pin 1 has an adjustment range 23, around its transverse adjustment axis (Y-axis) 15, with respect to the remainder of the overall configuration.

As just mentioned, the suspension pin or spigot 1 is provided with a suspension means 2 at its end near the aircraft. On the carrier side, already outside the aircraft's surface, the spigot 1 is provided with a seating surface for a divisible conical sleeve 9. The sleeve 9 is seated in a clamping sleeve 3 which has a conicallv extending outer surface disposed in a corresponding clamping surface 14 of the loadcarrier block 10.' The carrier-side end of the spigot 1 has seating surfaces for a spherical mount 5. By means of a coupling nut 4, the load-carrier block 10 is clamped via the spherical mount 5, the suspension pin 1, the clamping sleeve 3 and the conical sleeve 9 against a conical bearing bush 7a and the conical mount 8, and thus to the aircraft.

LB140290 6 - If no adjustability of the spigot 1 around the Y-axis is required, then the clamping sleeve 3 and the spherical mount 5 can in a simplified manner each be substitued by simple cylindrical mounting bushes.

The coupling nut 4 can be constructed such that it can be operated by means of a tool or,-as shown in Fig. 2a by means of a wormdrive 4b.

The load-carrier block 10 and the spherical mount 5 are formed with respective bores 12a into which a centering sleeve 12 is rotatably mounted. This sleeve 12 fixes the spigot 1 in the set Y-direction and centres the the spherical mount 5 in the load-carrier block 10. At the same time, in such an embodiment, this centering sleeve 12 can serve as a gas-ducting channel for separating gases of cartridges 11. In this respect, it is Dointed out that embodiments which have explosively separable suspension pins require a rearward mount 19 with a rotational point to obtain optimal departure behaviour (Fig. 7a to 7c). However, suspension pins of fixed installation do not necessarily require such a mount.

The rear end piece of the spigot 1 includes a mechanical manual unlocking device 6. As is clearly shown in the figures, the illustrated spigot embodiments t Z LB140290 - 7 can be adjusted in the Z-direczion and centred around the adjustment axis 15. The figures are drawn in such detail that no further details will be required by the average expert.

In Fia. 3a, the mount on the aircraft is illustrated. The conical mount 8 does not require access from the top for its installation. A coupling nut 8b is inserted into the structural member 7 of the aircraft, and through recesses 7c, and turned such that abutment teeth 8c of the coupling nut 8b rest on abutment noses 7b of the structural member 7. Then, the conical mount 8 is scre,.,ed from underneath into the coupling nut 8b and thus clamped against the structural member 7 as shown in FiQs. 3a and 3b.

In Fig. 4 a different embodiment is shown wherein a further coupling nut 4a is used for axial clamping above the clamping sleeve 3. For this purpose, the end of the spigot 1 nearest the aircraft has a positioning ring 3a for the divisible conical sleeve 9. The coupling nut 4a is screwed onto the thread of the clamping sleeve 3. By turning the additional clamping nut 4a, the positioning ring 3a and the conical sleeve 9 are moved upwards, but the clamping sleeve 3 is moved downwards. As the suspension pin 1 is mounted on the side of the aircraft in the conical mount 8 and the load-carrier block 10 is mounted to the pin 1 by the spherical mount 5 as well as LB140290 - 8 the coupling nut 4, all parts are thus secured against each other.

Fig. 5 shows another embodiment wherein the loadcarrier block 10 is matched with the aircraft or the wing contour 18. However, the arrangement of the pin or spigot 1 still corresponds with that of the Figs. 1 to 4. This embodiment preferably serves to cover an extended load area for inner or outer wing stations.

Fig. 6 shows another embodiment which is used mainly in stations of higher loads, for example tanks (Fig. 7b), whereby a larger fitting height is available. In such cases, the spigot 1 is extended so as.to reduce the suspension force (see the indicated extension area in Fig. 6). With the exception of the spigot extension, and if appropriate of individual parts of the pin's securement means, no changes at this spigot are necessary to allow the use of the system on all load stations with, for example, different heights of wing construction, i.e. inner station (Fig. 7a), middle station (Fig. 7b) or outer station (Fig. 7c). In other cases the spigot can remain unchanged by the arrangement of a horizontal support structure (horizontal with respect to the structural member 7 of the aircraft), so that the same spigot can be used anywhere independent of the constructional height. All embodiments allow an XY-Z-alignment, in which respect it has to be mentioned 0 LB140290 - 9 that, due to the ability of the spigot to align around the Y- axis (alignment axis 15), alignment with the geometrical conditions of these individual load stations is obtained without problems and effortlessly. The alignment of the spigot additionally prevents jamming when releasing the load in that after releasing the spigot 1 from its engagement to the conical mount 8, the clamping or the pre-tensioning of the spigot 1 is cancelled and it can move around the Y-axis 15 within the predetermined frame. Furthermore, the utilisation of a standardised load carrier is guaranteed.

LB140290

Claims

CLAIMS - 10 1. A suspension mounting arrangement for exterior loads or

exterior tanks on aircraft comprising a suspension pin which is installed in the aircraft frame or the wings and which is coupled with a load carrier, characterised in that the suspension pin, an aircraft structural member with a conical mount, and a loadcarrier block are assembled to form a unitary assembly module which is insertable into or attachable to the frame or load, the suspension pin, on the load-side, in a spherical mount in the load-carrier block, thereb,,.- being pivotally adjustable about a transverse axis, and being axially clamped and fixed in the loadcarrier block by means of a coupling nut, and, on the frame-side, being clamped and fixed by locking means engaging in recesses in the conical mount of the structural member, as well as by a divisible conical sleeve, which is axially adjustable and which is insertable into the structural member by means of a conical mounting bush, engaging a clamping sleeve.
2. A suspension mounting arrangement as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the locking means is composed of rollers or lugs which engage into respective recesses of the mount, which is insertable from below into the aircraft wing or the frame.

1 LB140290 11 -
3. A suspension mounting arrangement as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterised in that a centering sleeve which enables pivotal adjustment of the pin about a transverse axis is constructed to be a gas-ducting sleeve.
4. A suspension mounting arrangement as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the coupling nut is constructed such that it is operable by means of tool or bv means of wormdrive.
5. A suspension mounting arrangement as claimed in any of claims 1 to 4, characterised in that a further coupling nut is arranged on the suspension pin adjacent the -frame, which further nut acts on the conical sleeve and the clamping sleeve for clamping the suspension pin to the aircraft, or wing contour.
6. A suspension mounting arrangement substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated by the Figs. 1 to 3, or Fig. 4, or Fig. 5, or Fig. 6 of the accompanying drawings.

Published l 990 at The Patent Office. State House 66'71 Higl-.Holborr..L. Ondor WC1R4TP.FLLrthercop;esmkv be obtsinedfrorn The Patent Office Sales Branch. S Mary Cray. OrpinLrci.. Kent BR5 3RD Printed by Multiplex techniques ltd. St Mazy Cray. KeWL, Con. 1'87 bales Branch. S Mar-v Cra:v. Orpingtoi_ Kent BR5 3RD Printed bv Multinlex tech--anues Itil st marv Crav. Kem. Con. 1'87